VALUE OF HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION. 35 



sion, there is nothing of that domestic relationship that seems 

 to be suggested by the standard backyard, and so I think I 

 would hke in the evening, when the sun is set in the west, to 

 take the family in the backyard and there have the trees that I 

 planted there, and the flowers that have been growing there, 

 and the arbor that has been fixed there, and all that one might 

 enjoy, all the pleasing things one could enjoy. I think I would 

 rather have my backyard in the best place I could find. Why 

 should we try to imitate the bleakness of our prairies in an at- 

 tempt to beautify our homes? I think a httle more shrubbery 

 and those things cultivated in the backyard make it the most 

 pleasant place to spend your evenings with your family. The 

 arrangement of things might be reversed from the conventional 

 idea for a pleasant home. 



The value of this education too would satisfy the youth and 

 make him feel more at home in its surroundings. While horti- 

 culture is generally attributed to the man who is growing fruit, 

 and is becoming to incorporate the individual who is growing 

 the fruit for commercial purposes, it also appeals to the indi- 

 vidual who lives in the cities and towns, where the cultivation 

 of flowers and plants is the consideration. And it is valuable 

 because it developes the aesthetic and finer sensibilities of the 

 individual. I think for a man who comes home from the busi- 

 ness of the day, when his mind has been kept occupied with the 

 deahngs of the counting room or in any different business he 

 might be engaged in, when he comes home and sits among lots 

 of flowers and shrubs and trees and plants that are growing 

 about him, it seems to be a rest. It will recreate him and make 

 him prepared and fitted for another day's work. Now it is well 

 understood, it is certainly well known, that man's rest has 

 much to do with his honesty; that a man must have the proper 

 kind of recreation in order that he might live right with his 

 fellow men. It is said that from eight to twelve hours is neces- 

 sary for a man to rest. It is not sufficient by the best educa- 

 tors who have studied this question for the average, and so one 

 day in the week is set apart for rest. And I tell you why I 

 think it ought to be observed — from humanitarian standpoint, 

 from the standpoint of sociability, from every standpoint that 

 we may consider today, that twelve, eight or nine hours a day 



